China News 18 May 2020
International
Over 120 nations support inquiry into Covid-19. China faced pressure as the World Health Assembly began today, with 120 nations supporting a draft resolution seen as calling for an inquiry into the origins of the virus. States including the UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Russia support the motion, clearing its way to pass the World Health Assembly. The motion talks about "working… to identify the zoonotic source...and prevent the establishment of new zoonotic reservoirs." A Washington Post reporter suggested China was “aligned” or would support the low key motion. The Age, Twitter, Full Text 18 May.
In a speech to the Assembly President Xi pivoted away from the question of an inquiry on to his proposals for building African hospitals. A US-led group of countries were pushing for Taiwan’s observer status in the assembly to be restored. However, Taiwan has withdrawn its request to hold a vote on whether it can regain its observer status following discussion with allies. Guardian, Bloomberg, Hong Kong Free Press 18 May
Le Monde: spying concerns after China paid for the renovation of the Maltese embassy. On Friday Le Monde reported on Belgian security worries that Beijing has used the revamped Maltese embassy in Brussels as a spying station. The paper suggests the building, opposite the European Commission, houses “technical means” to spy on the EU institutions. Malta says China only paid for furniture, and the building isn’t used for spying. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a muted reaction to the news, saying he would wait to hear from the Belgian security services. Le Monde 15 May, Politico, 16 May
Chinese ambassador to UK: China does not arrest journalists for being journalists. In an interview with Sky News Liu Xiaoming was asked why China had imprisoned 48 journalists over the last year. He said: "no journalist is put behind bars because of what they are doing as a journalist. People are put behind bars because they are violating the law." Regarding coronavirus he said: "There's not any cover up at all." Sky News, 14 May. Separately, in a tweet, the Chinese embassy claimed that “Li [Wenliang] was never arrested. He was summoned to police station and got a reprimand.” Twitter
Government faces human rights legal threat over allowing Huawei in Britain’s 5G network. Mail on Sunday, 17 May
CRG Secretary Neil O’Brien writes for Conservative Home about Beijing’s attempts to promote self-censorship in the west. Conservative Home, 18 May. He also writes for the Times Red Box about Beijing’s increasingly aggressive stance. Times, 18 May
Hong Kong:
Shop serves tear-gas flavoured ice cream in support of Hong Kong democracy. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hong Kong police cleared of wrong doing by watchdog - sparks anger. The Guardian, 15 May
Pro-CCP lawmakers in Hong Kong seize committee causing scuffle in legislature. Pro-Beijing lawmakers plan on introducing a bill which requires undefined “solemnity” towards the national anthem of China. Reuters, 18 May & Footage
How China used technology to combat COVID-19 – and tighten its grip on citizens. Amnesty, 17 April
Uyghur Muslims Forced to Eat Pork During Ramadan. Bitter Winter, 15 May
Economy/tech
U.S. moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers - China eyes retaliation. The US on Friday moved to block global chip supplies to Huawei. China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday the United States needed to stop the “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese companies like Huawei, and a Chinese newspaper said the government was ready to retaliate against Washington. Reuters, 15 May & Reuters 16 May & Asia Times, 18 May
“China readies biggest counterattack against US.” State media quotes “sources close to the government” saying China is planning trade reprisals against US firms. It reports: “Punitive measures targeting large-sized US companies like Qualcomm, Cisco and Apple are the "nuke bomb," according to analysts. “China will launch rounds of endless investigations on those firms, just like swords hanging over their head. It will dampen investors' confidence and squeeze their income in the Chinese market.” Global Times, 16 May
EU Commission to suggest exports controls on dual use technology. It says the EU needs “a credible capacity to control exports of sensitive technologies” to prevent “misuse by third countries and to protect our strategic interests.” Politico, 15 May
Josep Borrell calls for EU to reduce dependence. “We should avoid excessive dependence in strategic sectors by building stockpiles of critical materials. We also need to shorten and diversify our supply chains.” Op-Ed, 15 May
Head of EPP says EU should temporarily ban all Chinese takeovers. Reuters, 16 May
Chinese factories are back online - but who will buy their goods? New York Times, 15 May
BlackRock Asked to Divest of Chinese Companies by Human Rights Group. PRNewswire, 13 May
Long reads
Breaking the China Supply Chain: How the ‘Five Eyes’ can Decouple from Strategic Dependency. Henry Jackson Society
Podcast: “Missing in Action: U.S.-China Cooperation on Coronavirus”. ChinaFile, 14 May